Bird feeder with modular bird seed reservoirs

ABSTRACT

A bird feeder wherein a housing includes a plurality of modular hopper elements with a floor underlying and supporting the hopper elements and a roof overlying the hopper elements, the hopper elements including impermeable side walls juxtaposed to form a hopper assembly of maximum capacity and minimum footprint and a front wall with feed apertures to enable birds to access bird food within the hopper element. Each hopper may be selectively removed and replaced without disturbing the other elements. In one embodiment, the hopper elements form segments of an inverted frustoconical hopper assembly which may be selectively and individually removed from the bird feeder without disassembling the housing. In another embodiment, each of the hopper elements is rectangular in transverse cross-section, and comprises a pair of spaced, generally triangular, parallel impermeable side walls interconnected by a pair of spaced, generally rectangular, front walls angled from the upper portion of the hopper element to the lower portion thereof, with the parallel impermeable side walls of adjacent hopper elements being juxtaposed in the housing and a plurality of feed apertures defined in each of the angled front walls adjacent the lower end thereof. A seed catcher may be provided underlying each hopper element with a depression formed in the floor of the housing to position the seed catchers.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of patent application,U.S. Ser. No. 10/687,867 filed Oct. 20, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No.6,889,629 issued May 10, 2005, and is entitled to and hereby claims thepriority thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to bird feeders and relates more particularly tothe type of bird feeder which comprises a housing with a hopper carriedby the housing for receipt of bird food, and support for the bird feedersuch as a post or a hanger for attaching the housing to a support forthe bird feeder, such as a hook, a tree limb, or the like. Commonly, thehopper for bird feeders of this type comprise a cylindrical or conicaltransparent plastic tube with a multiplicity of feed ports or openingsintermediate the top and bottom portions of the tube. In some such birdfeeders, the housing includes a wire cage surrounding the hopper tominimize access to the feed port by squirrels and other small animals.

Another common form of commercially available bird feeders are“gazebo-style” bird feeders which, like an ordinary gazebo, have afloor, a plurality of vertical supports and an overhanging roof with thebird seed reservoir carried by the floor beneath the roof. Usually, theroof may include an opening with a removable cap enabling the reservoirto be refilled from above. A wire loop or the like may be attached tothe housing for supporting the bird feeder in use, or the floor may besimply mounted on a post secured in the ground.

2. Description of the Related Art

Commercially available gazebo-style and other bird feeders currently onthe market have several disadvantages. First, access to the bird seedhopper or reservoir through an opening in the roof is often difficult,particularly if an attempt is made to fill the hopper without removingthe bird feeder from its support or if the bird feeder is mounted at alevel above the user's sight. Often, a funnel or other such implement isnecessary to facilitate filling the reservoir without spilling largeamounts of seed during the filling process.

Additionally, providing sources of different types of bird seed toattract a variety of birds usually requires the use of multiple birdfeeders. Compartmented reservoirs or hoppers are available in some birdfeeder products, but filling the individual compartments with differenttypes of bird seed is particularly tedious.

Another problem associated with bird feeders currently available isassociated with cleaning of the reservoirs. Over time, the bird food inthe hopper may tend to cake or spoil from environmental moisture andheat, fouling the hopper, precluding free flow of bird seed through theaccess or feed apertures and necessitating the removal of the reservoirfrom the housing. This process is especially difficult in gazebo-stylebird feeders since the roof may be fixedly attached to the floor or basevia the vertical posts by glue or screws. In such circumstances,removing the reservoir or hopper from the housing for cleaning andreplacing the same may be impossible or, at best, is difficult and timeconsuming and, in some instances, requires extraneous tools such asscrew drivers or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of this invention toprovide a bird feeder which overcomes the aforementioned and other suchdisadvantages in a simple and inexpensive manner. More specifically, theinstant invention is directed to a bird feeder wherein the housingincludes a floor underlying and supporting a plurality of modular hopperelements, with a roof overlying the hopper elements to protect thehopper elements and the floor from the weather, and, with the hopperelements selectively removable from the housing to be refilled orcleaned, or to be entirely replaced by other modular hopper elementswhich may contain the same or different forms of bird food.

A still further object of this invention is to provide, in a preferredembodiment, a plurality of modular hopper elements, each of whichcomprises a segment of a conical hopper assembly with the hopperelements being individually removed from and/or placed in the housingwithout need to dissemble the housing elements.

Yet another object of this invention according to a preferred embodimentis the provision of individual segmental hopper elements for a birdfeeder including mating side portions adapted to be juxtaposed in use toform a hopper assembly which maximizes capacity while minimizing thefootprint of the assembly.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide an assembly ofsegmental hoppers of the type described wherein the non-juxtaposedportions together define a generally frustoconical outer surface withapertures adapted to carry feed ports.

An object of a further embodiment of this invention is the incorporationof a plurality of modular bird food reservoirs or hopper elements in acommon gazebo-style housing wherein each of the hopper elements isgenerally rectangular in transverse cross-section and comprises a pairof parallel sides interconnected by a pair of sides angled from theupper portion to the lower portion of the hopper element, with theparallel sides of adjacent hopper elements being juxtaposed in thehousing to form a hopper assembly in the shape of an inverted pyramidwith a plurality of apertures defined in each of the angled sidesadjacent the bottom portion of each hopper element through which birdsmay access bird food within the reservoir.

Yet another object of this embodiment of the invention is the inclusionof a seed catcher underlying the lower portion of each modular hopperelement and extending outwardly from each of the angled sides below theapertures to catch bird seed that escapes from the apertures in use.Additionally, the floor of the housing may include a depressiondimensioned to receive the seed catchers of the hopper elements toposition the hopper elements relative to each other and relative to thehousing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and many of the attendant advantagesof the invention will be better understood upon a reading of thefollowing detailed description when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of a gazebo-style birdfeeder according to this invention, showing a pair of modular bird seedhoppers removably carried thereby;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view showing themanner in which the bird seed catcher portion of a modular hopperelement seats in a depression in the floor of the housing, an optionalsupporting post for the bird feeder being shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the bird feeder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view thereof showing the roof lifted indotted lines for removal of one or more of the hopper elements;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the bird feeder of FIG. 1 with the lifted roofin dotted lines similar to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a bird feeder withmodular bird seed reservoirs according to this invention;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the bird feeder of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a further side elevational view thereof taken at 120 degreesrelative to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the bird feeder of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view thereof;

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along lines 11-11 ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11 showing the manner in which amodular hopper element can be removed or inserted in dotted lines; and

FIG. 13 is an elevational view of one of the hopper elements of the birdfeeder of FIG. 6 with the cover lifted and with one of the feed portsbeing shown in dotted lines for illustrative clarity.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In describing preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated in thedrawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake ofclarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that eachspecific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in asimilar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-5, anembodiment of a gazebo-style bird feeder incorporating removable modularhopper elements according to the instant inventive concepts isdesignated generally by the reference numeral 20, and comprisesbasically a housing 30 and a plurality of modular hopper elements 50.Although only two such hopper elements are illustrated, the number andsize of the hopper elements may obviously be increased or decreasedwithout departing from the instant inventive concepts.

The housing 30 includes a floor 32 underlying and supporting each of thehopper elements 50 in a manner to be described in more detailedhereinafter, a plurality of upstanding posts 34, preferably fixedlysecured to the corners of the floor 32 in any conventional manner, and aroof 36 overlying each of the hopper elements 50 to protect the same andthe floor 32 from the elements in a well-known manner. The roof 36 mayinclude an opening 38 covered by a removable cap 38 a, if desired, toenable access to the hopper elements 50 from above, although, for manyapplications, such a construction will not be necessary in view of theremovable nature of the hopper elements.

The foregoing housing components are preferably formed of wood forappearance sake, but can be formed of plastic or other materials,simulating a wooden gazebo. In contrast, the hopper elements aregenerally formed from any well known plastics material by injectionmolding or any other conventional manner, and may be transparent toenable the level of bird food within the individual hopper elements tobe visually observed.

Preferably, the roof 36 simply rests on the upper ends 34′ of the posts34 and is otherwise unattached to the posts. If desired, the upper ends34′ of the posts 34 may be angled to better accommodate the angledundersurface of the roof 36 (not shown). Although, in the embodiment ofFIGS. 1-5, the roof 36 is not fixedly secured to the posts 34, ifdesired, screws or the like (not shown) may be provided to better securethe roof to the posts, while permitting the roof to be removed whennecessary for access to the modular hopper elements 50.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, a rope or cable 40 may have its opposedends 40′ connected to the edges of the floor 32 in any conventionalmanner, with intermediate portions passing through apertures 42 in theroof 36 to form a loop 44 for attachment to a supporting element such asa hook, a branch of a tree or the like (not shown). In this manner, theroof 36 may be slid upwardly along the rope 40 as shown in dotted linesat 36′ in FIGS. 4 and 5 to readily access the hopper elements 50 toenable removal of the same for cleaning, refilling or replacement.

Alternatively, or additionally, a supporting post 46 may be threadablysecured to the bottom of the floor 32 as seen in dotted lines in FIG. 2.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 as illustrated in the drawings, each ofthe hopper elements 50 is rectangular in transverse cross-section, andcomprises a plurality of spaced, generally triangular, parallel sides 52interconnected by a pair of spaced, generally rectangular, sides 54angled from the upper portion of each hopper element 50 to the lowerportion thereof to provide an enlarged internal cavity or reservoir 56for reception of a quantity of bird seed or other bird food (not shown).At the bottom of each of the angled sides 54, a plurality of apertures58 are defined through which birds may access bird food within thereservoirs 56 in a well known manner.

A seed catcher 60 preferably underlies the lower portion of each hopper50 and extends outwardly from each of the angled sides 54 below theapertures 58. The seed catchers 60 may have upturned edges 62 tofacilitate retaining excess bird seed escaping through the apertures 58.A depression 32 a is preferably defined in the floor 32 of the housing30, with the seed catchers 60 fitting within the depression 32 a toposition the hopper elements 50 relative to each other, with theparallel sides 52 of adjacent hopper elements 50 being juxtaposed withinthe housing 30.

Drainage holes 60′ may be formed in the seed catchers 60 and drainageholes 32′ may be formed in the floor 32 to permit rain or water fromnearby sprinklers to flow out of the bird feeder 20 and a peripheral lip32 b may be provided about the floor 32 to retain bird seed or the likeoverflowing the seed catchers 60.

The use and operation of the gazebo-style bird feeder 20 of thisinvention will now be readily understood by those of ordinary skill inthe art. One or more modular hopper elements 50 may be pre-filled withbird food. The individual hopper elements 50 can contain the same birdfood or different types of bird food to attract different birds. Thesize and positioning of the apertures 58 can be varied to accommodatedifferent types of bird food.

The roof 36 of the bird feeder 20 may be moved relative to the floor 32to enable the hopper elements 50 to be selectively positioned within thehousing 30, with the seed catcher portions 60 thereof seated in thedepression 32 a in the floor 32 to position the hopper elements 50relative to each other and relative to the housing 30. The bird feeder20 can then be either supported via a post such as 46 fixed in theground, or a rope or cable loop 44 engaged over a hook, a tree limb orthe like.

When an individual hopper element is empty or needs cleaning, the roof36 may be lifted, the modular hopper element 50 removed, cleaned,refilled, or simply replaced by a different modular element prechargedwith bird food. The roof 36 is then repositioned over the posts 34 ofthe housing 30 and ready for further use.

Although the bird feeder 20 is generally shown as rectangular, othershapes of gazebo-style bird feeders can incorporate the same inventiveconcepts as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5 of the drawings withoutdeparting from the instant inventive concepts. For example, reference ismade to FIGS. 6-13 for another embodiment of a bird feeder designatedgenerally by the reference numeral 75 and incorporating a plurality ofindividually removable modular hopper elements 100. Although threesubstantially identical hopper elements 100 are illustrated, the numberand size of the hopper elements may obviously be increased or decreasedwithout departing from the instant inventive concepts. However, thethree hopper elements 100, each of which forms one-third of the hopperelement assembly, is preferred for ease in manufacture, versatility inuse, and the aesthetic nature of the final product.

The bird feeder 75 includes a housing 80 comprising a floor or base 82underlying and supporting the hopper elements 100 in a manner to bedescribed in more detail hereinafter, a domed cover or roof 84, and asupporting post 86 interconnecting the base 82 and the roof 84. See,particularly, FIG. 11. The lower end of the supporting post 86 isthreadably engaged in an upstanding central boss 82 a forming part ofthe base 82, with a flange 87 on the post 86 seated on the boss 82 a.The upper end of the post 86 extends through an aperture 84 a in theroof 84 and is threadably captured by a cap 88 which may hingedly carrya loop 89 for attachment to a supporting element such as a hook, abranch of a tree or the like (not shown). Thus, the assembly of the baseor floor 82, the cover 84 and the post 86 together define a rigidsupport, the housing 80, for carrying the hopper elements 100.

The base 82 preferably includes an upstanding peripheral wall 82 b andhorizontally extending portions 82 c which together define a seedcatcher to receive bird seed falling from the feed ports 108. Amultiplicity of apertures 83 may be formed in the horizontally andvertically extending portions of the base 82 to permit rain water or thelike to escape therefrom.

Although the elements of the housing 80 may be formed of any suitablematerial such as a rigid plastic material, they are preferably formed ofmetal in any well known manner to enhance the strength of the assembly,and minimize damage from squirrels and the like. Each of the hopperelements 100 is formed from any well known plastics material in anyconventional manner and is, preferably, transparent to enable the levelof bird food within the individual hopper elements to be visuallyobserved.

The individual hopper elements 100 each comprise a pair of side walls102 extending at approximately a 120 degree angle to each other and acurved and tapered front wall 104. Thus, when the three hopper elements100 are in the assembled position seen particularly in FIGS. 6-10, thewalls 102 of a particular hopper element 100 are juxtaposed tocomparable walls of the other two hopper elements 100 so that the frontwalls 104 together form a generally inverted frustoconical hopperassembly. Each of the front walls 104 may be provided with a pluralityof apertures 106 adapted to slidingly receive feed ports 108 withperches 110 in a well known manner. See particularly FIG. 13.

Portions of the inner edges of the walls 100 of each hopper element maybe connected by an arcuate wall 112 to provide a circular central wellwhen the hopper elements are assembled which surrounds an enlargedspacer ring 90 carried by the post 86. The upper end of each arcuatewall 112 terminates in a shoulder 114 with a vertically extendingaperture 116 defined therethrough. A support ring 92, also carried bythe post 86, includes upstanding fingers at 94 received in apertures 116to position the upper portions of the hopper elements when they areassembled in the housing 80.

A hopper floor member 118 may be removably supported on a multiplicityof ribs 120 formed on the walls 102, 104 of the hopper element 100 forease of cleaning the hopper element. Edge portions 118′ of the floor 118may additionally be supported by engagement in a slit 122 in the arcuatewall 112.

A removable cover 124 may be provided to cover the top of each hopperelement 100 and, thereby, form an enclosed cavity 125 for reception of aquantity of bird food (not shown) that can be accessed through the feedports 108 in a well known manner. The cover 124 may include outstandingfinger-engaging lips 124 a to facilitate disengaging the same from thehopper elements 100.

A series of upstanding peripheral walls 82 d are formed by the base 82to define wells 85 for reception of complementary-shaped foot portions100 a on the tapered lower ends 100 b of each hopper element 100. Aswill be seen particularly in FIG. 12, with the housing 80 fullyassembled, each of the hopper elements 100 can be individually andselective supported thereby by tilting the same in the manner shown indotted lines at 100′, with the foot portions 100 a of the hopper element100 seated within a well 85 in the base 82 and the aperture 116 in theshoulder 114 engaged over one of the fingers 94 on the support ring 92.Obviously, reversing that procedure enables removing the hopper element100 from the housing 80 for refilling, replacement or cleaning.

Thus, the embodiment of FIGS. 6-13 enables individual hopper elements100 to be removed from the housing 80 without disassembling the housingand with no need for extraneous tools such as screwdrivers or the like.In this manner, inexpensive bird feeder with multiple modular hopperelements is provided which is simple to use, aesthetic in appearance andversatile, enabling the bird feeder of this invention to be providedwith large quantities of a single bird food, or individual hopperscontaining different bird food to attract a plurality of bird species.

The foregoing descriptions and drawings should be considered asillustrative only of the principles of the invention. Numerousapplications of the present invention will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, it is not desired to limit the inventionto the preferred embodiments or the exact construction and operationshown and described. Rather, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

1. A bird feeder comprising a housing and a plurality of modular hopperelements forming a hopper assembly, said housing including a baseunderlying and supporting said hopper elements and a roof overlying saidhopper elements, said base and said roof being interconnected with acentral post, each hopper element including a floor and upstanding wallstogether defining an internal cavity for receiving a quantity of birdfood, said walls including at least one substantially flat impermeableside wall and at least one curved front wall including at least one feedaperture through which birds may access bird food within said cavity,each of said hopper elements being tapered from an enlarged upperportion to a smaller lower portion to form a frustoconical hopperassembly with each of said hopper elements defining a segment of saidfrustoconical hopper assembly, a substantially flat impermeable sidewall of each hopper element being juxtaposed to a substantially flatimpermeable side wall of at least one other hopper element in anassembled relationship of said hopper elements, and said curved frontwalls of said hopper elements when side by side and taken together insaid hopper assembly forming a substantially circular horizontalcross-section, said base including a horizontally extending portion andan upstanding peripheral wall that define a seed catcher for catchingbird feed falling from the feed apertures and each hopper element beingremovably coupled to said central post on an individual basis so as tobe cleaned, refilled and/or replaced without removing any other hopperelement from said housing and without disassembly of any other componentof the bird feeder.
 2. The bird feeder of claim 1 wherein each hopperelement includes a pair of impermeable side walls interconnected by saidcurved front wall, said substantially flat impermeable side walls ofeach hopper element being juxtaposed to an impermeable side wall of twoadjacent hopper elements in said hopper assembly.
 3. The bird feeder ofclaim 2 wherein said hopper assembly includes three hopper elements,each hopper element including two substantially flat impermeable sidewalls extending at about 120 degrees to each other, and a curved frontwall, said side walls of each hopper element connected at inner edgesthereof by an arcuate wall having a concave side and a convex side, saidconcave side facing said central post so as to curve around said postsuch that substantially all points along said concave side are generallyequidistant from said post.
 4. The bird feeder of claim 3 furtherincluding a plurality of feed apertures in said curved front walldefining feed ports.
 5. The bird feeder of claim 3, wherein said centralpost has a support ring thereon that includes a connection element foreach of said plurality of hopper elements, each hopper element having acorresponding connecting portion complementary in shape with saidconnection element to couple said hopper element to said support ring,said connection element and said connecting portion coupling said hopperelement to said ring at only an inner shoulder portion of said hopperelement adjacant said concave side, said concave sides of said arcuatewalls generally abutting an outer edge of said support ring.
 6. The birdfeeder of claim 5, wherein said support ring is carried near an upperend of said post and further comprising an enlarged spacer ring carriedby said post near a lower end thereof and abutting against said concaveside of said arcuate walls.
 7. A bird feeder comprising a housing and aplurality of modular hopper elements each having an open top and an openbottom, said housing including a base underlying and supporting saidhopper elements and a roof overlying said hopper elements, said base andsaid roof being interconnected with a central post carrying a connectingmember near an upper end thereof, each hopper element being providedwith an individually removable floor piece for closing said open bottomand an individually removable lid for closing said open top, each hopperelement including upstanding walls which, together with said removablefloor piece, define an internal cavity for receiving a quantity of birdfood, said walls of each hopper element defining a segment with a curvedfront wall including at least one feed aperture through which birds mayaccess bird food within said cavity, and an inner wall of each of saidhopper elements being configured to fit cooperatively with saidconnecting member, a side wall of each hopper element being juxtaposedagainst a side wall of at least one other hopper element, whenassembled, in which said plurality of hopper elements together form afrustoconical shape tapering downwardly with an arcuate outercircumference, each hopper element with at least said individuallyremovable floor piece in place being removable from said housing to becleaned, refilled and/or replaced without removing any other hopperelement from said housing.
 8. The bird feeder of claim 7, wherein saidhopper assembly includes three hopper elements, each hopper elementincluding two side walls extending at about 120 degrees to each other.9. The bird feeder of claim 7, wherein each hopper element has two sidewalls with inner edges of said side walls being connected by an arcuatewall that faces said connecting member on said central post, a curvatureof said arcuate wall generally corresponding and in abutment with outeredges of said connecting member.
 10. The bird feeder of claim 9, whereinsaid hopper elements are secured to said connecting member only by aninner shoulder portion of said inner wall near said upper end.
 11. Thebird feeder of claim 10, wherein said connecting member includes aconnection element for each of said plurality of hopper elements, theshoulder portion of each hopper element including a correspondingconnecting portion shaped to be complementary with said connectionelement to secure said hopper element to said connecting member.
 12. Thebird feeder of claim 9, further comprising an enlarged spacer mounted onsaid central post and shaped as a ring with an outer circumferencesubstantially equal to an outer circumference of said connecting member.13. The bird feeder of claim 9, wherein a lower portion of each hopperelement defines a terminal foot portion, said base wholly encompassingsaid terminal foot portion and including complementary-shaped wells,each well slidably receiving one of said foot portions of said hopperelements therein, said foot portions and said wells being generallycylindrical, said arcuate inner wall of said hopper element extendingthrough said foot portions to create a concave arcuate portion in saidgenerally cylindrical foot portion.
 14. The bird feeder of claim 7,wherein a lower portion of each hopper element defines a terminal footportion, said base wholly encompassing said terminal foot portion andincluding upstanding portions defining complementary-shaped wells, eachwell slidably receiving one of said foot portions of said hopperelements therein.
 15. The bird feeder of claim 14, wherein said baseincludes a horizontally extending portion and an upstanding peripheralwall that define a seed catcher for catching bird feed falling from thefeed apertures, said complementary-shaped wells being defined withinsaid horizontally extending portion so as to be surrounded by and spacedfrom said upstanding peripheral wall.
 16. The bird feeder of claim 14,wherein said foot portions and said wells are generally cylindrical. 17.A bird feeder comprising a housing and a plurality of modular hopperelements, said housing including a base underlying and supporting saidhopper elements interconnected with a roof overlying said hopperelements, each hopper element including a floor and upstanding wallsthat together define an internal cavity for receiving a quantity of birdfood, a front wall of each hopper element being curved and including atleast one feed aperture through which birds may access bird food withinsaid cavity, a side wall of each hopper element being juxtaposed againsta side wall of at least one other hopper element when assembled and withsaid curved front walls forming a generally circular horizontalcross-section, said juxtaposed side walls being substantially flat and alower portion of each hopper element tapering downwardly to define aterminal foot portion, said base including a horizontally extendingportion and an upstanding peripheral wall that define a seed catcher forcatching bird feed falling from the feed apertures, said horizontallyextending portion having a series of complementary-shaped wells spacedfrom said upstanding peripheral wall that slidably receive andindividually surround respective hopper element foot portions, each ofsaid hopper elements being separately supported at said foot portion bya respective well and separately connected at a top thereof to an upperportion of said housing so that each hopper element is individuallyremovable from said housing to be cleaned, refilled and/or replacedwithout disassembly of any other component of the bird feeder or removalof any other hopper element from said housing.
 18. The bird feeder ofclaim 17, wherein said foot portions and said wells are generallycylindrical.